FREE WILL ASTROLOGY Week of August 16th

ARIES (March 21-April 19): These days you have a knack for reclamation and redemption, Aries. If anyone can put fun into what's dysfunctional, it's you. You may even be able to infuse neurotic cluelessness with a dose of erotic playfulness. So be confident in your ability to perform real magic in tight spots. Be alert for opportunities to transform messy irrelevancy into sparkly intrigue. By the way, how do you feel about the term "resurrection"? I suggest you strip away any previous associations you might have had, and be open to the possibility that you can find new meanings for it.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The game of tic-tac-toe is simple. Even young children can manage it. And yet there are 255,168 different ways for any single match to play out. The game of life has far more variables than tic-tac-toe, of course. I think that'll be good for you to keep in mind in the coming weeks. You may be tempted to believe that each situation you're dealing with can have only one or two possible outcomes, when in fact it probably has at least 255,168. Keep your options wide open. Brainstorm about unexpected possibilities.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Let's turn our attention to the word "mortar." I propose that we use it to point out three influences you could benefit from calling on. Here are the definitions of "mortar": 1. a kind of cannon; 2. the plaster employed for binding bricks together; 3. a bowl where healing herbs are ground into powder. Now please meditate, Gemini, on anything you could do that might: 1. Deflect your adversaries; 2. Cement new unions; 3. Make a container — in other words, create a specific time and place — where you will work on a cure for your suffering.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Nirvana's song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was a mega-hit that sold well and garnered critical acclaim. But it had a difficult birth. When the band's leader Kurt Cobain first presented the raw tune to the band, bassist Krist Novoselic disliked it and called it "ridiculous." Cobain pushed back, forcing Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl to play it over and over again for an hour and a half. In the course of the ordeal, the early resistance dissolved. Novoselic and Grohl even added their own touches to the song's riffs. I foresee a similar process for you in the coming week, Cancerian. Give a long listen to an unfamiliar idea that doesn't grab you at first.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): One of history's most notorious trials took place in Athens, Greece, in 399 BCE. A majority of 501 jurors convicted the philosopher Socrates of impiety and of being a bad influence on young people. What were the impious things he did? "Failing to acknowledge the gods that the city acknowledges" and "introducing new deities." And so the great man was sentenced to death. This is a good reminder that just because many people believe something is true or valuable or important doesn't mean it is. That's especially crucial for you to keep in mind. You are in a phase when it might be wise and healthy to evade at least one popular trend. Groupthink is not your friend.